Rui Machado bows out to Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in the Round Robin – ATP Challenger Tour Finals 2011
Local crowd at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil, was in for another surprising outcome in the Round Robin of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour Finals, with the second seed Rui Machado falling
to the fifth seed German, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, on Friday night.
The most successful player on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, Machado, was simply outclassed by the sheer brilliance of Stebe, who took 83 minutes of play to wrap up victory in straight sets, 7-5, 6-0, to book a berth in the
semi-final of the season ending grand event.
The contest remained evenly poised in the first half but the later part was an all-German, with Stebe dominating every minute of the second set. He nailed three successive break points to the second seed’s serve, disposing him
of the competition in the most authoritative fashion. Although Stebe, Machado and Dudi Sela were 2-1 in the Yellow Group, the second seeded Portuguese failed to qualify for the final four of the tournament. He was also levelled on sets won-lost (4-3) with
Stebe but the German’s victory on Friday earned him a spot in the semi-finals.
“When I got here I was a little nervous about the situation and only in the second set did I start feeling more comfortable,” expressed Stebe after dumping this year’s Challenger Tour leader from the competition. “Today things
worked out pretty well; I played aggressively and was in control of the match. I think that playing like this I can be a dangerous rival for the title.”
Stebe secured 29 first serve points in the game, with Machado lingering far behind with just 13 to finish on the losing side in the end. The opening set witnessed a total of five break points from the two contestants but a crucial
breakthrough in the 12th game closed out the first set at 7-5 in the favour of the German. He then launched a series of forays upon the Portuguese opponent, breaking his serve in every single game to race away to victory at 6-0.
Stebe will meet his fellow compatriot, Andreas Beck, in the semi-finals to battle for a spot in the final of the mega event. Sixth seed Beck topped the Green Group with a 3-0 winning record, outplaying the top seed Thomaz Bellucci,
third seed Martin Klizan and the eighth seed Bobby Reynolds in the Round Robin. The all-German affair will be played on Saturday night, with the winner getting through to the final show down of the ATP Challenger Tour.
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